The Cities of the Sky
by garon604
Summary: In a desperate search of the Cities of the Sky, three Aishas make an endeavour to try and piece together back the Gem of Fyora and save the skies of Neopia from falling. EDIT: Discontinued, may continue if I feel like it.
1. The Talisman of the Faeries

Long, long ago, up in the skies and near the heavens, there were three great cities called the Cities of the Sky. The three cities were: the City of the Wind, the City of the Clouds, and the City of the Stars.

The Cities of the Sky had an ancient treasure: the Gem of Fyora, which was blessed by Fyora herself. It rested upon the Altar of the Heaves, high up above the Cities in the Tower of Air. It shined a beautiful golden in the City of the Wind, pure white in the City of the Clouds, and midnight-blue in the City of the Stars. The Gem had many amazing powers, but its most special power was that it kept the Cities together, even though they were apart.

However, like most ancient gems and seemingly unbreakable lines of peace and harmony, something bad had to happen sometime or sooner.

And the time was sooner.

The late king of the Cities, King Alto, wanted the Gem for his own. He had ventured from the Palace himself to the Tower of the Air, where he stole the Gem and was planning to use it to take over the Cities and then the entire world of Neopia. However, he fell from the top of the Tower of Air all the way to the land below, and perished. The Gem, unable to leave the sky, broke into three separate pieces.

Peace and harmony were broken almost once. The Cities raged wars over each other, trying to decide who was going to keep the fragments of the Gem of Fyora. Finally, they decided to each take a piece for their own.

The fighting had ceased, but peace had not fully come. It was an ignorant peace, where the Cities just completely ignored each other. Trade and traveling was cut off, because no 'outsiders' was allowed to enter any of the Cities. Gradually, the Cities grew apart, and in the end, they all just disappeared.

* * *

Little Lukinonia Star the small Split Aisha jumped on her bed. The moon and the stars were shining outside as her mother told the little Aisha's favourite bedtime story.

'You're such a great storyteller, Mommy!' she said, pulling her blankets over her.

'Why thank you dear!' she said, in surprised tone. Karolina Star was in fact a great storyteller, and had a better memory than almost anyone in Neopia.

'Mommy, do you really think there are a City of the Wind and a City of the Clouds and a City of the Stars?' said Luki, closing her eyes.

'We'll see dear,' said her mother in a strange tone. 'We'll see...'

* * *

A few years later, a Split Aisha, followed by a Purple Aisha and an Orange Aisha, walked down the deserted Palamor Street. It was a beautiful twilight and they were walking in the direction of Palamor Forest. The Split Aisha looked depressed, the Purple Aisha looked worried, and the Orange Aisha looked sad.

'I'm really sorry, Luki.' said the Purple Aisha to the Split one.

'Yeah, really sorry,' said the Orange Aisha gruffly.

'Oh don't worry Panika! Granion!' said the Split Aisha. A much older Lukinonia Star wheeled around to face her two best friends.

Panika and Granion were sister and brother. Their parents couldn't afford to keep them, so they deposited them to the Pound, saying that they would come back someday. A few weeks later, they were rescued by Karolina Star and her young infant Lukinonia, and they where kindly fed and cared for them until they managed to find a good foster home for them. The three Aishas became good friends, and did almost everything together.

'Well, like all living things on Neopia, everything must come to an end,' said Panika wisely. Out of the trio, she was the smartest.

'Come on sis; you know we don't understand you about 88% of the time!' said Granion. Out of the trio, he was the most athletic, but not the brightest crayon in the box.

'Will you guys stop arguing for just ONE minute?' said Luki angrily.

Her friends quieted down. They did have a tendency to argue, but they knew that there was also a time to stop.

'Your mother was a wonderful person, but her time on Neopia has to come to an end, like for me and for you and for Granion too,' said the Purple Aisha.

'Yeah Luki, it wasn't your fault,' said Granion, trying to sound wise.

Luki knew that she had her friend's empathy, but that wasn't enough. Their Neohome was sold an hour before she passed away in the NeoHospital, because they needed the money so she could stay in Hospital. Now that she was gone, she was to stay with Panika and Granion's foster parent until she found a family for her own.

'...and all I have left is her midnight blue tear,' she muttered sadly so her friends couldn't hear her. She drew out the small vial that she hung around her neck. It was so small that her mother's one tear filled almost the entire container. It shined a greenish-colour in the late afternoon. She stuffed it back into her shirt and held back tears; right now was the time to be brave.

The trio advanced into the Forest. It was quite a maze, and a lot of times it was resourceful for escape from the dangers of their little village; gangs of robbers and other scary things had begun troubling the village ,which was just on the edge of Neopia Central. Luki barely noticed her two friends bickering away.

A Hopso hopped by. A Spyder dangled off a tree. And an Aisha with beautiful faerie wings sat in a nearby tree, watching them. It was sitting beside a rather transparent Starry Aisha, who was smiling at Lukinonia.

Luki's ears twitched and she looked up. She could hardly believe her eyes.

'Mother!' she cried. 'Mother, is that you?'

The Starry Aisha beamed. It floated down in front of the surprised Luki, the doubtful Panika, and the astonished Granion.

'Lukinonia, my child,' she said in a faraway voice. 'Lukinonia, how wonderful it is to see you again!'

'Oh Mother,' cried the Split Aisha. 'I've missed you so much!'

'Relax Luki, I've only been away for 3 hours,' said Karolina in a cross voice. 'Anyways, I still have a little time here, but very little.'

'I have come here to send you on a quest, Lukinonia of the Stars. It will be perilous, but needed. Do you and your friends accept?'

'Yes!' cried Luki and Granion at once without thinking. Panika was lingering, but she agreed to in the end anyways.

The ghastly figure of Karolina smiled- or at least, seemed to. 'That is excellent. I have come to tell you something that you must believe. You MUST take me seriously; it takes a lot of energy and magic to bring the dead back to life, even if for only a little while.'

'You must embark on a quest to bring peace and harmony back to the Cities of the Sky.'

'What?' questioned Panika, all of a sudden. 'That's only a myth!'

'Child, I am serious.' said Karolina in a stern voice. 'The Cities of the Sky have begun to crumble and wither. If they COMPLETELY disappear, then the Sky will fall and all of Neopia will be lost.'

Karolina paused for a moment for the message to sink in. Then, she continued, 'The only way to do this is to get the three pieces of the Gem of Fyora from the City of the Wind, the City of the Clouds, and the City of the Stars, piece them together, and then get to the Altar of the Heavens, which is at the very top of the Tower of Air. Only then will the Cities re-unite and be able to use their magic to keep the sky from falling, and prevent a truly terrible ending to Neopia. It will be dangerous, for none of the Cities allow outsiders into their midst. However, each of you possess a special quality, and surely the City will let you come in, though I'm not sure how you're going to find and rescue the piece of the Gemstone before they see through you and capture you forever.'

The transparent figure of Karolina began to tremble and shake. 'My time here is up,' she said. 'Take care!'

She blew a kiss and was gone in a flash of light.

The three friends looked at each other gravely. The Faerie Aisha, whose magic managed to bring an imprint of Karolina's spirit back to Neopia for a short time, was very tired but he knew that he had a job to do.

'Well, we must make haste!' he said in a booming voice. 'Are you coming, or not?'

The three Aishas were standing in silence. They didn't know what to do; they knew that they had to save the Sky but part of it still seemed like a joke. However, they knew that Karolina coming back to life from the dead and then telling them that they had to was no joke, so they quickly agreed.

'Alright now, the only way to get to the City of the Wind, your first stop, is the Pathway of Light... and the only way to get there is to use the Talisman of the Faeries.'

The Faerie Aisha looked at the three of them and then pointed to the place where Luki's Vial, which contained her mother's teardrop, was. He muttered a few words and the vial slowly lifted up. Luki was surprised and so were her friends. The Faerie Aisha made a swift movement with his paws and the teardrop glowed rainbow for a second before falling.

'That teardrop... it is special. The Talisman of the Faeries has disappeared for a very long time, but if your mother's last teardrop contains all the love and caring she had for you. It will guide you to what you need to know. I cannot come with you into the Pathway, but I wish you all the best of luck.'

The Faerie Aisha flew high into the air and was gone in a flash of pink.

'Now what do we do?' asked Granion silently.

A small breeze flittered through the Forest as the three friends looked at each other, their heads buzzing with questions.

'Well, there's only one thing we can do,' said Luki. She lifted up the Vial around her neck, and held it up towards the sky.


	2. The Pathway of Light

Her mother's midnight blue tear shined with the twilight and the forest around them slowly darkened. The three Aishas looked at it, amazed, as it slowly began to shine with all the colours of the rainbow. Then, a huge golden beam erupted from it and it twisted and turned along the narrow path of Palamor Forest towards what seemed to be the center. Without thinking, Lukinonia and her friends Panika and Granion ran alongside it. Soon, they caught up with the end of the beam, which was leading them to the very heart of the large forest. Turning one corner, left, right, right, left, no one could really keep track. The late afternoon was slowly darkening when they reached the center.

It was a small grove which was cleared of trees. The small rays of sunlight left just dimly lit a small shrine right in the middle. It looked like no one had been there for a long time; it was covered with moss and a small breeze could probably knock it down.

The beam of light seemed to be swallowed up by an unseen opening in the shrine, and it disappeared. They were left in the semi-darkness. Sitting down, they waited until the first stars began to twinkle and all that was left of the sun was a faint glimmer. Then, the moon began to brighten and it was an impossibly amazing sight; the Moon, Sun, and Stars all up in the sky at the same time.

Then, the three Aishas had to cover their eyes, because the small Shrine had begun to glow! First, it was a brilliant golden, then a shining white, and finally a mysterious midnight blue. And from the rickety structure came a large archway, filled with light. It almost seemed like the night had turned into day.

Still without speaking, the three friends slowly walked into the light. It seemed to envelope them... to devour them... to swallow them...

And then they were in.

* * *

It was only hours after Lukinonia's mother, Karolina, passed away. Before she did so, she had sent her daughter on a perilous quest: to piece together the pieces of the Gem of Fyora and save the Cities of the Sky from their ignorant peace and bring happiness back to the heavens. However, each city held a piece of the Gemstone, and they doubted that they would be able to get it and survive to tell the tale.

Along with Luki came Panika and Granion, whose own parents had passed away when they were very young. Panika was a smart Purple Aisha who looked before she leapt. Granion was basically the opposite of his sister; an athletic Purple Aisha who doesn't usually bother to think things over first.

Right now, the three friends were lying on the ground of the Pathway of Light, the only known way to get to the Cities of the Sky.

And their worlds were the complete opposite of the world around them: darkness.

Luki was the first to stir. She got up and looked around, or tried to at least. The Pathway was just so bright; you could hardly tell which way was left or right. The only things that weren't completely blinding her were her lifeless friends, lying a few feet beside her. Quickly, she ran over and tried to stir them.

'Panika!' she sobbed, pulling her friends' ears. 'Granion!'

She put her paws over her eyes; what happened when they went through the archway?

Well, Luki or Granion and even Panika aren't supposed to know this, but when they went through the archway back at Palamor Shrine, they were seen by the elusive Commander Garoo. Though he didn't know what they were doing, he knew that they couldn't be up to anything good (for them) because the Pathway of Light also led to his Master's most recent hideout. So, he switched one pathway around with another. He knew that the Pathway would lead to basically nowhere, but he did not know that it would actually lead them to the City of the Wind. When he switched the Pathways, they crashed into a protective barrier and got knocked out when they were thrown into the wrong path (well it was the right path for the Aishas). He would go and send one of his minions, and they arrived when two of the three friends woke, which was just about 5 minutes after Luki was shaking them and trying to pull their ears off.

Granion was first to make a sound. He gave a loud groan without opening his eyes and then rolled over. He muttered something which sounded like, 'Five more minutes mom...'

Panika woke up a straight away, her ears and eyes alert. 'Luki! Where are we?' She shaded her eyes and got up.

'I don't know, but we all got knocked out when we got here...' Luki's voice trailed away. She could have sworn she heard the sound of sliding flesh echoing around the Light, and a small black dot somewhere in her left direction, but she wasn't sure. She didn't want to worry her friends, but she also didn't want to get caught off-guard, especially when Granion was out cold.

'Granion should have sunglasses!' said Panika all of a sudden. She reached down into her brother's pockets and pulled out a pair of regular sunglasses, nightglasses (sunglasses that made the day look as if it had turned into night), and Cool Shades.

Throwing the Cool Shades unceremoniously at her brother, Panika took the nightglasses and tested them on. 'Wow! It seems like just regular day now.'

Luki picked up the regular sunglasses and she did feel a bit better now that she could see properly again. If she hadn't had them on she would have noticed that the small black dot she had seen earlier had turned into a dot the size of a pumpkin that was far, far away in the pumpkin patch...

'Granion, get up!' said Panika, beginning to kick her brother. 'Luki, help!'

The Split Aisha went to go help her friend. They kicked Granion repeatedly, and then tried pulling his ears, poking his eyes, feeding him a Perfume Bottle Panika had, and putting on the Cool Shades. Nothing worked.

What had happened to Granion? He got the impact of the barrier first and was squashed by Panika and then Luki.

'Well, I guess we're just going to have to carry him,' said Luki sadly.

'Are you kidding me?' said Panika, disgusted. 'Do you know HOW much he eats every day?'

Luki's sunglasses went lopsided when she stood up from slapping her Orange Aisha friend unconsciously silly. She was about to put them back on when she saw that tiny black dot of darkness that had just swelled to the size of a pumpkin faraway. However, it was now the size of a football field if you looked at it in the sky, and was getting bigger by the second.

'There's no time to complain or explain Panika!' exclaimed Luki. She quickly hoisted the body of one of her best friends up over her shoulders and without noticing how light he appeared to be, she began dashing to the right, AWAY from the darkness.

'What are we doing Luki?' screamed Panika from far away.

'No time to explain, just RUN!'

They ran and ran and ran, and the darkness also seemed to be running, but faster. Luki knew that there was no time to lose, but there had to be some time to gain, but how was she going to do it?

She looked up out of her thoughts and through her sweaty eyes she saw another thing that didn't completely blind her: a rainbow seemed to be forming in the 'sky' of the Pathway and it began to charge down to the 'ground'.

'Get to the end of that rainbow!' screamed Luki.

'But that's impossible!' said Panika, clutching a stitch at her side. 'Rainbows are circular so-'

'I DON'T CARE!!!' screamed Luki. 'JUST KEEP RUNNING!'

The darkness was now moving twice as fast and the Aishas were starting to tire. She knew that sooner or later, she was going to faint and the darkness would envelope her forever. But she felt something: she felt a mysterious source of magical energy. She looked behind her left shoulder. All she saw was Panika, beginning to fall behind. The darkness had almost enveloped her!

'Panika!' screamed Luki. 'Hurry!'

'I'm trying Luki, I'm trying!' sobbed Panika from far behind.

The mysterious magic was growing stronger. She looked behind her right shoulder and saw the lifeless form of Granion. He seemed to be growing colder! In her running she had never noticed that he was extremely lightweight or that he was beginning to get colder. In her mind's eye, she could almost see his entire face, which was just struggling to breathe...

'Luki!!!'

Her thoughts were interrupted by her other friend's call. Her head wheeled past her left shoulder and she saw a terrible sight: Panika had fallen and the darkness was just about to swallow her up! She looked in front of her and saw the end of the rainbow, which was only a few feet away.

What was she to do? Should she get herself and Granion to safety, or try and get Panika to safety?

Then, it hit her. It was so very obvious; how did she not see it before? She quickly ran to the end of the rainbow, placed Granion there, and then looked up at the rainbow. She stared at it with fierce eyes, and began to yell:

_'I call upon the powers of wind, cloud and star!_

_Powers of sky oh so heavenly far,_

_Element Cloud! Help us in our darkest hour;_

_Give us hope; give us power!'_

The rainbow began to change colour as she uttered the words. It began to shimmer and brighten, and it turned into a beam of light that glowed magnificently. It covered Luki, Granion, but not Panika. Panika! The darkness had gotten half of her body, and she was struggling to get up.

'Revive Granion and give him the strength to save Panika!'

The beam of light began to brighten and then shoot towards the sky. It then became so bright and magnificent that Luki had to cover her eyes, even with sunglasses on. Then it shot down towards Granion and surrounded him with crystal-white light.

'Granion!' screamed Luki and Panika. Luki rushed over to her friend. The light had begun to soften, and then Granion stood up. An aura seemed to surround his body, all the way to the tip of his ears. Fire raged in his eyes and his mouth was set straight. Then he leaped up, high in the air, and in seconds he was back with Panika. Her head was the only thing that wasn't engulfed in darkness. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be unconscious.

'Granion! Look out!'

A strange, unexpected tongue of black whipped out at the Orange Aisha Hero. He jumped out of there as quick as lightening, and clutched tightly in his paw was-

'Panika!' sobbed Luki. It was in fact Panika, body and all. Granion set her down where the rainbow had been (it disappeared when it revived Granion) and leapt back in front of the darkness. It seemed to bubble in rage at having its prey lost.

'Power of the Clouds, aid me!'

And in his paw appeared a lightening bolt of crystal-white. It began to morph slowly into a bow and arrow.

However, there was only one arrow.

Granion would need that one arrow to destroy the darkness.

And if he missed...

'Granion! You can do it!' cheered Luki. If she were looking at Panika very closely she would have seen her eyelids flutter.

Granion took the arrow, attached it to the bow, and pulled the string back...

Suddenly, a dark face appeared to appear in the darkness. It would have been unnoticeable if it were even darker than the darkness, if there was a colour that black. But, it was there. It had very thin slits for eyes and a large gaping mouth. When it spoke, it chilled right to the bone.

'So you're the micsssreants that have tried to essscape the darknessss,' the darkness hissed. 'I cannot let you passss the Pathway of Light. You will perishhh here and you will never be found...'

Granion pulled the Arrow of Cumulonimbus back on the string of the Bow of Destiny and launched the golden point at the gaping hole that was the mouth of the darkness. It seemed to swallow it and after choking for a few seconds, it looked up with a triumphant look on its face.

'Ha! You cannot defeat the darkness that easy!'

'But I can,' said a voice behind Luki.

The Split Aisha wheeled around and there was Panika, beginning to sit up. 'Granion!' she yelled. 'You can do it! Just believe in yourself! Have hope! Have faith! Have courage!'

And suddenly, Panika began to glow with light. She put her paws together and then she thrust them at her brother. A pink lightening bolt struck her brother's hand, and instead of wincing in pain, he held his paw up high and a small arrow appeared. It was a tiny point with a small heart with wings at the end of it.

And it was just big enough to be able to be launched by the Bow of Destiny.

Granion attached it to the Bow, pulled back the string, and fired it at the mouth of the darkness. It seemed to swallow it completely, because it was so small that the darkness couldn't even feel it sliding down its throat.

'You foolssss!' the creature cried. 'You have done nothing! I am not harmed! I am-'

But we never really figure out what kind of other condition he was in because at that moment, he began to bubble, not in rage, but of agony as his bodiless form began to slowly wither away.

'What have you done?!' it shrieked.

'You may have been the all-powerful Shapeshifter of Darkness,' replied Panika. 'You may have had everything. But there was one thing that you were missing: love!'

The word echoed throughout the Pathway. And then, as if it were being squashed by a large invisible hand, it began to shrivel.

'You are making a terrible mistake passsssing through me!' screamed the creature as it shrank to the size of a peanut. 'The Cities of the Sky will never come to peaccce...'

* * *

Lukinonia, Panika, and Granion winced as they stepped out of a trapdoor. Their eyes adjusted to the darkness of regular light, and they were happy to finally be out of the Pathway of Light.

'Well, that was an exciting adventure,' said Luki, looking around.

'Yep,' agreed Granion. 'Bet you'd never expect that to happen, eh sis?'

'What? Oh, right...' said Panika dreamingly.

After the Shapeshifter of Darkness had completely been destroyed, Granion's strange powers had disappeared. However, he was fully recovered, and so was Panika. Luki was happy, and she hugged her two dearest friends in a big group hug.

'Oh guys, I was so worried!' sobbed Luki.

'I was MORE worried!' said Granion.

'And I was barely worried because I was mostly unconscious!' said Panika happily.

Her friend and brother gave the Purple Aisha piercing looks.

'So what now?' Granion had asked. As if in reply, the Bow of Destiny, which he was still holding in his paw, lifted out of the Aisha's grasp and floated up towards the 'sky'. It began to crumble away, and its dust became one with the light.

'Thank you, Panika,' said Granion all of a sudden. 'You gave me your love, and that created the Arrow of Love.'

Panika grinned. 'You're welcome. Now let's get out of here!'

And the trio had begun walking away.

Now, all that was behind them, and they stood blinking at the sunlight. They seemed to be standing on wind, which was blowing so hard that they could actually stand on it. They looked up and saw the gates to their first goal and the first piece of the Gem of Fyora.

The gusty gates that protected the fabled City of the Wind.


	3. The City of the Wind

The gates must have been fully transparent, because when the Aishas looked up at it, they saw nothing. The entrance to the fabled City of the Wind seemed impenetrable, and since they could barely see them, it was impossible to climb.

'And to think, it was only twelve hours ago when we were just regular Neopets walking down Palamor Street,' commented the Orange Aisha to the other two.

'And only three hours ago we began to run for our lives,' said the Purple Aisha to the other two.

And all they said was true. The three Aishas were Lukinonia, Panika and Granion, and they were on a very dangerous quest to piece together the fabled Gem of Fyora so that peace and harmony could come back to the Cities of the Sky. So far, they had survived the Pathway of Light and the Shapeshifter of Darkness, and now they were at the front gates of the City of the Wind, where the first piece of the broken Gemstone was said to reside.

'Hellloo?' said Granion, knocking on the invisible gates. 'We come in peace, unless you don't!'

No one answered.

'Well, this stinks,' said Granion, slumping down. 'What do we do now?'

'Here, I'll try,' said Panika slowly. She stepped up and knocked on the gates three times.

A shimmer appeared, and suddenly the Purple Aisha could see the gates, which looked like the same kind of material they were standing on: wind blowing so hard it seemed like it was solid.

'Panika! Granion!' she screamed, twisting around. 'I can see them! I can see the gates!'

But before she heard a reply, a gust of wind began to pick up Panika! It blew her straight into the city before she could even make a sound.

She had entered the city and had seen the gates, but her clueless friends were staring wide-eyed at the gates that, with a loud creaking sound, snapped shut.

* * *

Panika rubbed her eyes, which seemed to be glued shut, as she slowly got up. She was a bit dazed, and her bed seemed to feel a bit harder than usual. She thought that she was just tired, and that it probably didn't have anything to do with something that related to surprising or unusual.

And boy did she think wrong when she opened her eyes.

The Purple Aisha expected to see her bedroom wall, which was covered with Usukicon Y6 posters. However, she saw a beautiful street that was tiled with a wind-like design, and glamorous buildings that seemed whispered as if they were wind going through an autumn forest. The trees were even more luscious than the ones in Neopia; they were fully covered with beautiful, golden leaves that never fell off, even in the blowing breeze. Little animals were scurrying about, minding their own business. Two young Baby Neopets sat on the small patch of grassy lawn outside the nearest building.

Panika loved all things Baby, and she thought that these Neopets were just adorable! She ran up to them, and managed to make out that they were the two cutest Baby Lupe and Kougra she had ever seen.

'Hello there!' said Panika in a sweet voice. She had been a babysitter once, but that is a tale that was never repeated and eventually lost in time.

The babies looked up at her curiously. They were playing with a large Blue Bouncy Ball that, if it were heavier, could probably squash them flat.

The Baby Kougra cooed quietly and threw the ball towards the Lupe. The Lupe jumped (or tried to) but it was too small; the ball flew right over its head and on to the street. The two young Neopets looked at each other for a moment and began to cry loudly.

'There there now, don't cry!' said Panika soothingly. 'I'll get your ball for you!'

The Aisha ran up to the baby's ball and picked it up. She turned around to give it back to them, but instead a terrible sight met her eyes.

The lawn was withered; the street just nearby was a deathly black and the tiles were chipped and cracked; but the most horrifying thing was the Babies.

Well, that's what they were supposed to be. Instead of cute Neopets she found very ugly and strange Mutant Neopet Babies sitting on the dying (or dead), charcoal black- was that once grass?

Now I like Mutants sometimes, but these were the most NAUSEATING things imaginable.

The Kougra was completely covered in slime; its eyes like small rubies and its mouth a gaping hole. The only way you could tell that it was any normal colour at all was the occasional patch of regular skin, which completely matched the strange description of the Mutant Kougra.

Its companion, the hideously mutated Lupe, seemed to be withering away before them. Its skin appeared to be chopped and rather bumpy, and the only way you could tell that it was Mutant (or even a Lupe at all) was its bushy tail which was constantly wagging and the head, which was hidden with a Lupe skull. Its yellow eyes were slits, and the red pupil glowed like the eyes of a vicious monster in an extremely dark cave.

Panika's vision only lasted for two seconds. She blinked her eyes and everything was back to normal, including the babies. Fearfully, she threw down the ball very roughly at the Kougra, and without looking she ran down the street.

* * *

'Panika?' shouted Granion, his voice echoing throughout the sky. 'Panika, are you there?'

'No sign of her,' said Luki, coming back from the trapdoor that led back to the Pathway of Light.

'Where has she gone?' wondered Granion aloud. 'It isn't like her to disappear without a trace. She must have left behind something!

'Oh she did, alright,' said Luki, looking past her friend.

Luki walked over to the gates and picked up a half-used bottle of Cloud Usul Perfume.

* * *

'How can this be?' thought Panika fiercely. 'Those babies were so cute... how could they become so ugly like that?'

She was walking down the street at a very high speed, unaware of her friend's desperate search for her at the gates.

She shook her head to clear those ugly thoughts. It must have all just been a... hallucation. Yeah, that's right, a hallu-

'Young Aisha! Watch we're you're going!'

Panika was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the Blue Robed figure that had just come out of the large Town Hall and had walked right into him.

'What are you doing out on the streets right now?' he demanded. He looked like a Kyrii, but you couldn't really tell since he was almost completely covered with his sparkling blue robe. 'Everyone must report to the Great Hall for lunch! No one is allowed to be roaming the streets except the Win Spellas!'

The Aisha could only stammer. She had walked in two hours ago, and lunch was regularly at noon. And what were Wind Spellas?

The blue-robed Kyrii looked at her closely. He examined her with his golden-blue eyes, which was the only thing that could be seen in the mysterious darkness of the hood he was wearing over his head. Then he gasped.

'You are not one with the city!' he exclaimed, rather all of a sudden. 'You are an outsider! But how did you pass the gates?'

Panika was clueless as this blue-robed figure, who must be a Win Spellas since he was roaming the streets during lunchtime. She guessed that the Win Spellas must have been something like the council here, but she didn't have much of a clue.

'I- I just pushed the gates and then a huge wind picked up and- and-' she didn't really know much after that.

'Only the residents of the City of the Wind may push the gates and enter!' declared the Win Spellas. 'I don't know how you got here, but I cannot let you keep roaming our sacred streets!'

He grabbed the startled Aisha by the wrist and began pulling her towards the building next to Town Hall.

* * *

Luki bent and picked up the perfume.

'This is all that's left of her,' said Luki, holding back tears. 'I cannot live when there is a remainder of her just lying here!'

With incredible and unusual force she threw the Perfume over the invisible gates. She expected it to hit them and fall back down, but instead it went all the way over and landed with a small 'clink' somewhere on the street behind the gates. This was not known to them, but in fact it fell through a loose street-tile and into a nice soft, dirt hole.

'Well, that was a bit stupid of you,' said Granion as his friend burst into tears. 'But I'm sure she'll come back eventually...'

'She's gone, isn't she?' sobbed Luki. 'First mother and now her! Who's next? You?'

'Well, that's the bright way of looking at it,' replied Granion. 'For now, let's just keep our hopes up.'

'Well, I hope you're right,' said Luki, looking down at the rushing wind that was their ground. 'I hope you're right...'

* * *

Meanwhile, Panika was trying very hard to keep her chin up. The Win Spellas that was pulling her to lunch was digging deep into her wrist and it began to get REALLY painful.

They entered a large building. Inside was a small room with two great double doors with candles burning on brackets around them. A great red carpet flowing from it and reached all the way towards the exit, unwrinkled and fit the entrance of a king. There were two smaller doors on each side, though the struggling Aisha could only glance at them for less than a second. Five paintings of Neopets that were similar to the Kyrii that was dragging her right now looked humbly at them. Panika could just make out a male Grarrl and Kougra, and a female Yurble and Kacheek. The Kyrii that was holding her now was at the very top of all the paintings. He appeared to be a higher rank than the other five of his fellow council members.

The Win Spellas pulled Panika through the great double doors into a wondrous hall. Many people were dining and laughing at the hundreds of tables. There were multiple dishes that were extremely mouth-watering: mashed potatoes as golden as gold coins; succulent roast chickens that made the mind wander if you took just one sniff of it; stacks of saucy veggie balls that made asparagus balls seem like disgusting Rock Sprouts; multiple green peas with glorious yellow butter melting in them; multiple fruits and vegetables that seemed to be begging for Panika to eat them-

'Master! I have an intruder with me,' said the Kyrii towards a high table. Panika looked up, her mouth full of saliva. If the Win Spellas had not been clutching her so tightly, she was sure she would let her stomach take control of her and jump on to the table, grab as much food as she could, and eat it in seconds.

The Win Spellas who Panika had seen in the paintings were dining up there. They were looking down at Panika with mild interest. However, no one reacted as much as the person that was sitting at the High Seat: the Leader of the City of the Wind.

'Who are you and what do you want with our beautiful city?' demanded the Leader. He was a large Skeith who wore a royal cape and crown. His eyes were golden with a hint of blue, just like his Win Spellas. He was looking at the Aisha angrily, but he looked as if he usually were a very generous person.

'I- I-,' the Aisha spluttered. Saying that she was here to try and get the first piece of the Gem of Fyora was a less than satisfactory answer. She knew that they would probably fight to the death for it, which also included her death. 'I came to see if the- the- Cities of the Sky are real!'

It wasn't her best idea but she couldn't think of anything else. She knew that if she didn't manage to think up anything else, then it would be bye-bye Panika. She hoped that her friends wouldn't be too depressed.

'So you're just another one of those treasure hunters, are you?' sneered the Leader. 'The council of Win Spellas will now have an emergency meeting!'

They huddled up together at the high table. Panika soon learned their names: Brawly (the Grarrl), Coga (the Kougra), Kiki (the Kacheek), Jonie (the Yurble), and Kowani (the Kyrii). The Leader's name was only mentioned twice: Sympathonio.

'Hmmm, what odd names,' thought Panika to herself. Kowani had dragged her all the way to the High Table, told her to stay, and then joined his fellow council members. She realized that all of the eyes in the entire Great Hall must have been looking at them.

After a few minutes they broke and the Leader, Sympathonio, faced Panika.

'You have been able to gain entrance to this city. We do not know if you possess even one ounce of magical blood in your veins, but since you have been able to get all the way here, you may stay until a trial which will be held two days from now. This trial will decide if you will be able to leave our City and return to the lands of Neopia in peace or not.'

Sympathonio then smiled graciously. 'Now, come join us in our merry feast!'

He snapped his large fingers and a Gelert dressed in gold set a beautiful chair next to Sympathonio. The Leader then gestured for Panika to sit down next to him. Nervously, Panika sat down on her royal seat. And when she did, she had another vision.

The tables were death-black with spikes at the end and it was starting to crumble away. The people were cackling and sneering at her, their fangs showing and their long, bony fingers pointing at her cruelly. Their eyes had no pupils; they were all just white, and their clothing was completely black; torn and unwashed for centuries. The mashed potatoes were just a lump of the Stuff, and it didn't look very appetizing; the chickens were Duck Necks with grubs poking out of the empty eye sockets; the saucy veggie balls WERE Rock Sprouts, and even more vile than the regular ones; the peas were actually green worms that were covered in a mass amount of dirt; the fruits and vegetables black, rotten, and beginning to turn to dust.

She gasped in horror and blinked her eyes furiously. When she opened them again she saw just the regular great hall with its domed roof, tiled floor, tables, food, and Neopets. The ones in the front rows, who wore green robes, were looking at her curiously. No one else seemed to care; they were sitting too far away to hear or see. She then noticed that the Neopets in the hall were wearing strange colours. The Win Spellas were wearing blue; the Neopets in the first few rows wore green; the Neopets in the rows after that were dressed in scarlet; near the middle they were dressed in canary yellow; near the end was a sea of brown; and at the very, very back of the hall, she could just see the Grey-robed Neopets. They looked grave and weren't talking at all, and were looking longingly at the green-robed and scarlet-robed figures. She guessed that the city must have been divided into many categories and rankings, which went from Grey to the Win Spellas. Looking around the High Table, she also saw two other small tables devoted to Neopets wearing gold. She remembered that one of these had presented her chair, and guessed that these were the king's servants.

'So, young Aisha,' said Sympathonio. He was digging into a chicken (or it SEEMED to be a chicken at least) and taking a sip from his golden goblet. 'Do you believe in the Cities of the Sky now?'

Panika was still too startled to answer properly. She only managed a very silent agreement before pulling up some of the green peas and sniffing them expectantly.

'And if you leave, you will return to Neopia and act as you did before you discovered our great City?'

'Yes,'

'And that you will tell no one?'

'Yes,'

The conversation went on like this throughout lunchtime, and it's not really important anyways, so we'll just move right on. Panika didn't dare eat any of the food, and covered up by saying that she wasn't really hungry. After lunch, she stood up and her seat was whisked away in a blink of an eye.

'Umm, Sympathonio, sir?' asked Panika in a shy voice. Where will I stay until my trial?

'Hmmm...' the Skeith stroked his chin, thinking. Luckily for him, his problem was solved about five seconds after.

' 'I'll take her in, master,' said a voice.

Panika wheeled around to find the golden-robed Gelert that had set her chair in place looking meekly at his master and their guest. 'I can take her in... I have a spare bed... she can stay with me...'

'Are you sure, scrub?' said the Leader, staring question-marks into his servant. His name was Stevineal, and he was the Junior Commander of Spells. Soon, when he was well trained and the official Commander retired, he would take his place. He had a nice shy-looking Gelert face, but a bit on the runty side. The King didn't like him at all and found him unfit for the position of the new Commander.

'It would be an honour,' he said, bowing deeply.

The Leader thought for a second and then appeared to make up his mind, which was quite small really.

'If you so wish it, then our honourary guest will be at your place of residence until Tuesday of the 3rd week of the Month of Running, when her trial to decide if she leaves or not is decided by the decision of the Win Spellas! You may leave.'

* * *

'I thought I noticed something about you,' said Stevineal, pouring his guest some Strongberry Tea. 'The way you reacted whenever you saw the truth of our city.'

He sighed and sat down, sipping his beverage. After lunch, Stevineal had lead Panika to his home, which was set in the Gold Area. The houses there were quite small, but they were big enough to hold training materials, a kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a living room. Luckily, Stevineal had a spare cot which he offered to Panika.

When they had reached his house, the Gelert brewed some tea and sat down in the living room. Panika slowly began to explain what had happened: her entrance; the Baby Neopets; the Win Spellas; the vision of the great hall. She didn't tell him about her quest for the Gem of Fyora, though. She wasn't sure if he could be one-hundred percent trusted just yet.

'So... do you like reading?' asked Stevineal. Panika nodded, taking another sip of the Strongberry Tea. The Gelert had assured her that their Tea was a rare delicacy and was not affected when the City had mutated. The Strongberry was a rare retired fruit which she had never tasted before, and with each sip her tongue felt as if it were going on an amusement ride. In seconds she had drained half her tea cup, and when Stevineal asked her if she liked to read or not, there was only less than a mouthful left in the cup.

'Well, I'm sure you'll like this then!' Stevineal said with a smile. He stood up and gestured for the Aisha to come. Sipping away the last bit of the delightful drink, she stood up and followed her new friend down the small hallway of his home.

This one hallway basically led to every room of his residence. At one end was the exit to the street of the Gold District. At the other end there was his large training room. Then there were four other doors: one that led to the kitchen; one that led to a bathroom; one that led to the living room which they had just come out of; and one that finally led to his bedroom.

'You'll be sleeping in the Living Room tonight. There isn't enough room inside my little bedroom,' Stevineal said as he opened the door.

They stepped inside. Along one wall were the door through which that had just through and a window. Pushed up against another wall was his bed, which was small and tidy. But along the two remaining walls were-

'Oh my gosh!' exclaimed Panika. She ran up to the remaining walls of Stevineal bedroom. 'Books!'

And there certainly were books, and a good deal of them too. Many scrolls littered one shelf, some containing scary incantations and some containing very amusing stories. The other shelf was crammed up with books; some were novels and some were reference books. Panika grabbed one, plopped down on the gold-carpeted floor and began to read with great interest.

Stevineal smiled warmly. 'I'm glad you like them. Dig in, because there's four whole hours before dinner and you sure have a lot of reading to get done!'

* * *

As Panika ate an actual meal at Stevineal's house, Luki and Granion looked at each other with worry. They had not brought food with them at all. They had not brought water. They were as dry as a bone and as hungry as an unfed Skeith. They looked at each other pathetically.

'Granion, do you think we're going to SURVIVE to see Panika again if she somehow managed to survive?' she asked weakly.

'I hope so Luki, I hope so...'

It was very cold when the unseen sun set at the gates. They were hungry. They were tired. And all they wanted to do now was sleep...

The next day, Panika spent almost all of her time shut up in Stevineal's bedroom while he went to training. She read many books and scrolls with great speed and interest. Unlike most Neopets, she managed to remember everything that sparked her interest, and boy that's a LOT of things.

However, one thing incredibly sparked her interest. She noticed an old and forgotten book at the very top bottom shelf. She took it, blew off all the dust, and saw that it was entitled: 'The City of the Wind'. Interested, she opened it. On the first page, it showed a picture of happy Neopets singing and dancing at what seemed like the square where Town Hall was. They were so happy that Panika could almost seem to hear their cheery songs.

_'The residents of the City of the Wind were very magical and happy people. Almost all of them possessed magic which they used to do powerful spells. They did their part to keep the Cities of the Sky from falling under evil.'_

Still interested, Panika flipped the page and a horrible sight met her eyes.

On one page was the piece of the Gem of Fyora. It was chipped and it looked as if it were crying. It missed its other counterparts, and Panika was sure the other two pieces yearned for it also. She read the text, which was beginning to fade away.

_'However, when the fi ing began, the City Wind fought for the ent re Ge of F ora. However, in the , they agreed to take o e pi ce and live with it. The Gem, when it br k , put a bit of its in every piece. The piece the C took had the power to off evil spells and the mind. It would also increase the bea er's m agical a b l t e . The City took it and b i und r T l and it d all of their energy.'_

The page was so worn that some of the lettering had completely faded away. Panika was the most interested in the part where it was buried, but before she had a change to reread that, it crumbled right before her hands. A gust came from the open bedroom window and it blew the dust of the book away.

'No!' shouted Panika. That was her guide to getting out of here FAST! Something was rotten about this place, and she didn't want to stay here long. Plus, what were happening to Luki and Granion?

* * *

The wind whispered around the gates. Two Aishas were slumped against it, tired and exhausted.

'What's happening?' mumbled Luki.

'I don't know,' Granion croaked. 'All I know is, there must be a way into that dreaded city,'

Luki suddenly had an idea. Quickly, she got up, and took out the vial she wore around her neck.

'Your mother's tear?' asked Granion. 'How will that help us?'

Without answering, Luki silently poured a drop of the salty, midnight-blue liquid at the gates, and stepped back to see what would happen.

Panika was still reading through all the books. She wanted to see if there was another copy of 'The City of the Wind', but she didn't find it. For once, it seemed like just about all the books in Neopia seemed to be here except for that one read. She quickly hurried over the scrolls and began unrolling them at the speed of light.

'Curse of the Bees, no... Spell of Ultimate and Extreme Evil, no... Hide What's Outside: A Manual for Casting a Spell of Beauty, no... Beginner Spells...'

Many scrolls were like that. Panika took down 'Beginner Spells' and looked through it. She saw some very basic spells, like Fire Lighting and Water Summoning. She pocketed it, hoping that Stevineal would understand. One scroll seemed to be rather untouched. She opened it up and saw that it was a map of the Cities of the Sky!

'Hello; what's this?' It was a very detailed map. At the bottom-left corner there was Palamor Shrine, and then the Pathway of Light, which seemed to lead off in many different directions. After that there was the City of the Wind, which appeared to be very large and complicated. A path led from behind to a place called the Forest of Mist, which was twice as large as the City and by looking at the little sketch, appeared to be a very dangerous and vile traveling area. The Forest of the Mist led to the City of the Clouds, which appeared ruined but not twisted like the City of the Wind. It was a bit smaller but not by much, and was atop a large cloud.

A small line called the River of Vapor led from the City of the Clouds to a large vapor waterfall and at the top was the entrance to the City of the Stars, high up in the sky. Just a little pathway separated the City of the Stars and the Tower of Air, where they had to place the Gem of Fyora on the Shrine of the Heavens. She pocketed this too.

After looking through the other scrolls, she finally gave up and plopped down on the bedroom floor. The door burst open and there was Stevineal, dressed in his robes of gold.

'We must be present at the Great Hall for dinner.' he said. 'Though you know that you cannot eat anything, you must pretend to do so, or else the Win Spellas will get suspicious.'

He led the Aisha from his bedroom and out the main door. They slowly walked to the Town Hall, and were constantly joined by other golden-robed and sometimes green-robed pets, who asked Stevineal what it was like having an 'outsider' for a house guest. At this, Panika burned with white anger, but she knew it was wise to probably keep her comments to herself.

They entered the Great Hall slowly. Candles burned on brackets that were attached to the walls. The Win Spellas were still looking humbly at them both from the paintings and the High Table. Panika glanced at the two doors that she had seen when she first came into the Great Hall. Stevineal said that one door led to the kitchens, while the other door was locked at all times. No one knew what was behind there except for the Leader and Kowani, who was the Kyrii that dragged her into the Great Hall near the beginning, if you remember.

'Ah! Our guest!' said Sympathonio warmly. 'Come join us in our merry feast!'

Panika sat down near the leader once again. Stevineal smiled nervously and winked at her before going to sit at his own table. Panika had to fake eating something, but how was she going to do that?

She looked down at the seemed-to-be delicious food. She had to do something; she couldn't risk getting caught. Slowly, she leaned over the table, and picked up the bowl of mashed potatoes, and once again had a vision.

The King was grinning evilly, though he was smiling cheerily just moments before. His skin was rotten; his eye sockets were completely vacant (she didn't know how she was supposed to eat again after seeing that), his robes torn, battered, and darker-than-night black. His council, the Win Spellas, was all hideously mutated, gross, and could make you lose appetite if you just looked at them. They were even grosser than their fellow citizens, but not as disgusting as their King. Panika wheeled around to see the Gold tables, but her vision was over. Disappointed, Panika pulled the mashed potatoes toward her and spooned some on her plate.

'That's a good girl!' exclaimed the king richly. 'Now eat up; your trial is first thing tomorrow and you don't want to be hungry!'

She picked up a spoon and looked at the mashed potatoes with disgust. Their smell was simply alluring, but she knew that if she took one bite then it was bye-bye Panika.

She looked shyly around. The King and the nearest Win Spellas were looking down at her with interest. Slowly, she raised the mashed potatoes slowly towards her mouth. They were getting closer... and closer...

And then, of course, she got an idea. She dropped the spoon on the floor, faked a 'Whoops!' and bent to pick it up. When she did, she crawled under the table and to the other side. Raising the drape just a little bit so that her spoon could fit, she launched the potatoes at one of the green-robed citizens in the first row.

He leapt up in fury and looked around him. Panika used a Levitating Spell and slowly it floated over to the Neopet that was just behind him and cleanly into his hand. He didn't even notice his hands hold the spoon so it looked like he just recently launched something. Panika then got another spoon, and crept back to the chair.

She had an explanation at hand, but she didn't need it. The green-robed Neopet had thrown some green peas at the person behind him, and that kicked up a SERIOUS food fight. Panika looked with wonder as just about everyone in the hall began throwing food, from green-robed to grey-robed. The commotion gave her the perfect way to escape without tasting some of that dreadful food.

She crawled from her seat at the high table all the way to the great double doors. She slipped through them, and began running as fast as she could without looking back.

* * *

The frightened Aisha ran down the streets to go hide somewhere- but where? The great food fight was going on and she could slip away quite easily to almost anywhere in the city. The visions of the real City of the Wind were starting to come more often now. That's when it hit her: the Grey Area! Surely it must be run down and poor enough so that she could hide there in safety.

Unfortunately, she was correct about the terrain. 'Oh those poor people!' she thought. But this was no time for sympathy; she had to find a ruined, broken-down house somewhere. The trouble was that there weren't any houses; just apartments. She had to run almost all the way down the little, crowded street to find it: a collapsed apartment building that seemed to have crumbled and then completely forgotten about. She hid in one of the sturdy-looking rooms that remained and quickly tried to remember the words in the book.

_The City took it and b i und r T l and it all of their energy._

In her mind, she tried filling in the spaces.

_iThe City took it and buried it under T l and it provided all of their magic energy._

She felt as if a mysterious force was guiding her. However, she still couldn't work out the T l thing. It looked like two words, but she wasn't really sure. In her mind's eye, she probed the page out of memory as hard as she could.

And then she saw it.

The distance between 'T-l' was actually longer. It looked as if the entire last sentence had been pasted over. She was sure that the first and last words were true. She didn't know how, but it's one of those compulsions you get when you know that something's the truth and something's a lie.

To her luck, whoever pasted over it hadn't done a good job. She probed at it closer, and saw that it was 4 words. She could just make out 'Temple of ??? ???l'.

Well, she was getting somewhere. However, she felt her magic weaken. She knew that she must hurry. Again, she used all of her might to probe at the page.

The third word appeared to have 7 letters and began with an H and two of the same letters in the middle, plus a small letter that looked like a small line next to an arch.

Her mind was beginning to tire, so she could only think up one word: Hidden. Temple of Hidden ???l.

She thought of something that meant to hide and also ended in L. Her mind was almost ready to go to sleep and obviously she didn't bring a thesaurus with her ('Now that SERIOUSLY is a surprise,' Granion would say) and she couldn't summon one. Only one word popped up in her head: Veil.

Her mind sharpened almost immediately. She said it aloud: 'Temple of Hidden Veil'. But where was she to find that? The city was very large, and she was on the run.

Quickly, she thought about everywhere she had been to: the Great Hall, the Home of the Mutant Babies, the Entrance Street, the Ruins of the Grey Towers, Stevineal's house...

None of those places could possibly hold a map of the city. The residents of the Home of the Mutant Babies were in the Individual District and all of their actions were monitored. The Entrance Street obviously didn't have a large town map somewhere on it. The Ruins where she solved the mystery of the location of the Gem obviously didn't have a map; nothing was there except rock that was mostly covered in moss. Stevineal's house didn't have a map and none of his books did either, plus she didn't have the key to his house. The Great Hall had its huge dining room, the kitchens (which must smell utterly vile) and the Secret Room-

The Secret Room! There wasn't much of a chance that she would manage to get inside or that there was a map of the City inside, but it was her only hope. Quickly, she scooped up her hopes and thoughts and ran from the ruin.

* * *

'I don't believe it didn't work!' said Luki, slumping back down against the gates. She would just slowly sit here and die, and there wasn't anything that Granion could do.

In fact, Granion wasn't doing anything. He was just sitting there, his stomach rumbling like an earthquake. They would lie here forever, and their bones would be swept away with the wind.

She even began to hallucinate. She saw a flying figure in the sky, flying towards them with great haste.

It was obviously something that was coming to eat them, or worse.

But when it got closer, she saw, astonished, who it was.

'Granion! Wake up!' Luki shook her friend.

* * *

The Great Hall's small room was deserted. Sounds that the food fight was going drifted through the bottom of the great double doors. She heard a large SPLAT as a strange something hit the doors, but they were strong and didn't even shake. Panika's visions of the truth were coming more often now and getting more hideous as we speak. The small room she only saw for half a minute:

The Great Double Doors were twisted and the colour of burned black, yet it didn't seem to have suffered any harm. The portraits of the Win Spellas matched their descriptions from inside the hall. The door that led to the kitchens was framed with spikes and if you went through it, the scene would look like you were being swallowed by an extremely hungry monster, for the spikes looked like teeth and they were dripping with saliva. The other door that led to the Secret Room was, to Panika's surprise, completely normal.

She quickly ran over to them and turned the knob. The door swung open inward without a creak or a squeak. Panika entered, closing the door behind her very swiftly.

Nothing was in there except a round carpet. On it was a small shrine. And in the shrine was a small scroll. Curious, Panika ran up to the shrine, picked up the yellowed parchment, and unraveled it.

It was a rhyme:

_Where do you find the Gemstone of mine?_

_Where will you look; where does it hide?_

_A pure heart and a touch of gold,_

_Will break the spell and shatter the mold._

'What is this supposed to mean?' wondered Panika. She repeated it over again, but nothing happened.

She tried to piece it together.

_'Where do you find the Gemstone of mine?'_

It sounded like Fyora wrote this, since it said 'Gemstone of mine'.

_'Where will you look; where does it hide?'_

This, of course, meant that it was hidden somewhere. She already knew where: the Temple of Hidden Veil.

_'A pure heart and a touch of gold,'_

A pure heart must mean a good heart, but she didn't know about the 'touch of gold' part.

_'Will break the spell and shatter the mold.'_

It sounded like if she managed to get the piece of the Gem, it would break the spell that was hiding the true city because it said 'shatter the mold'.

She was at a start, but a slow one. It still didn't really give good clues.

She looked around the room again. Nothing changed; everything remained the same. She turned around to face the door, but the door was gone. Instead, there was an inscription on the wall:

_To find the Gem you must face the heat;_

_Down, down, under your feet,_

_To win you must use the powers of your heart,_

_For the evil will perish but the good will be smart._

And suddenly, a great wind began to pick up. The rug was beginning to glow, and slowly it disappeared like a lift, with Panika still on it!

The rhyme was coming true. The first two lines still burned in her mind:

_'To find the Gem you must face the heat; Down, down, under your feet,'_

That meant that she must be going underneath the City! But to where?

The lift halted to a stop. She stepped out cautiously, and her first thought was, 'It's BOILING down here!' But, when she stepped out, she felt a cool gust of air around her. It was like a calling from the Secret Room, now miles above her. She had yet another idea, and quickly pulled out the Spells Scroll. She used the Cooling Spell and felt her body return to normal temperature. Now she could look around freely.

It was a whole field of flames. They were licking an unseen ceiling, but not burning it through. The only walk able ground was inflammable dirt that Panika had seen many times in her Gardening Book, though this wasn't the time to remember its name. She hurried forward and a tongue of flames nearly scorched her, but she jumped out of the way just in time. A small sign, oblivious to the heat around it, was stuck right next to the pool of fire. It was very old, but you could still make the lettering out: 'The Great Hall'.

Areas of flames were under every structure of the City above her. That didn't really help much, but it gave her hope. The Temple must be above one of these licking flames, but where was it?

Panika took off from the Great Hall Sign and passed many great fires and fire-proof signs, but none of them read about any Temples. Some areas of fire were as large as many football fields all grouped together (these were usually living areas) and some were as small as a sandwich (these had no signs but their names were encrypted in the dirt). Finally, she managed to find an area whose flames had died out. A fallen sign was lying in the direct next to the huge pit in the ground. It was only barely readable:

_'Temple of Hidden Veil'_

However, it looked as if the Temple of Hidden Veil had crumbled and so did the flames underneath it. All that remained was a small glint in the multiple holes in the ground, and that must be-

'The Gem!' exclaimed Panika. 'Yes!'

She jumped down without thinking, which was also a first for her. She grabbed the glint that was the Gemstone, and then landed rather clumsily. She steadied herself back up, and looked around.

Nothing was there except for burnt dirt. However, it looked as if the dirt hadn't been burning for quite a long time, and probably wouldn't start burning again all of a sudden.

She looked up and realized her incredibly stupid mistake: How was she supposed to get out of the pit? She was about to reach for her Spells Scroll when, all of a sudden, something appeared at the top of the pit.

It was Stevineal.

'Stevineal!' shouted Panika. 'Can you get me out of here?'

Stevineal smiled wickedly. 'So you still haven't realized it, have you?'

He jumped down into the pit, landed a few feet away from our Aisha hero, and turned to face her.

'I had to gain your trust, even if it meant feeding you actual food and letting you contaminate my home.' he sneered at her.

Panika was very confused. 'What do you mean?'

The Gelert sighed. 'And you're supposed to be the smarty-pants of the bunch? Pah!' he cackled. 'If you really do not know what I mean, then I will show you.'

His body began to twist; his flesh began to transform. He wobbled and shuddered like a piece of Jelly that was being shaken around on its plate very harshly. Panika looked away, but the transformation was already complete.

Panika gasped with fear and horror.

'It's-'

'Yessss, you finally realize!' it hissed.

'I thought we finished you off!'

'Nooo,' it replied. 'After you fled from meeee at the Pathway of Light, I was revived and brought back to lifffe more powerfull than ever!'

Panika backed away in fear. It was the Shapeshifter of Darkness, and he was back. He must have taken the form of Stevineal to try and gain her trust, and it sure did work.

'But you acted as if Sympathonio actually knew you!'

'He diddd, oh yes he diddd,' hissed he. 'The real Stevineal was hidden away so that my massster's plans could be put into better efffect. Now, I cannot let you leave alivvve!'

It sprang out of the hole with a large leap. It was so dark it looked as if someone took a huge paintbrush and dotted the picture with a large gob of black paint. When it got to the top, it turned around and looked down at the trapped Aisha.

'Good-bye forever, you lousy Aisha!'

And with that, flames leapt up from the pit. They were very weak and couldn't hurt her, but she knew that soon they would be licking tongues of flame and would burn her to ashes. She knew she HAD to find a way out. She quickly remembered the Gem of Fyora in her paw.

'I cannot let the gem get incinerated!' she thought. Quickly, she took opened her paw and was about to throw it out of the pit when she remembered the words from the scroll:

_A pure heart and a touch of gold,_

_Will break the spell and shatter the mold._

A touch of gold... she looked at the piece of the Gemstone in her paw. It was a beautiful topaz-golden and its rays of light seemed to light up the entire pit.

_A pure heart and a touch of gold..._

A pure heart! A touch of gold! Without thinking it through (again) she quickly embraced the Gem as if she were hugging it. It was stupid, but it was an idea.

_Will break the spell and shatter the mold!_

Surely all of these flames were not part of the real City of the Wind. And this had to work. It was her last hope.

The Gem began to glow beautifully golden beneath her arms. She nearly dropped it in surprise, but instead she tightened her arms. And suddenly, she began to glow golden! Slowly, she floated up out of the pit, through the ground itself, and was in the Sky of the City of the Wind. Looking down, she saw the ruins of an old temple, but she only gazed at it for a second. She looked up once more and knew what she had to do

_I call upon the powers of wind, cloud and star!_

_Powers of the sky oh so heavenly far;_

_Gem of Fyora, I call upon your light,_

_To break the spell and make the City shine bright!_

That she shouted shrilly into the night air. There was a loud CRACK! sound as the spell over the city was broken, and Panika floated slowly back down the ground. She looked around and saw that everything was- mutated! She had broken the Spell that had hidden the hideous mutation and had faked their rich city, but the citizens weren't too happy! They rushed out of the great hall in droves, and they SERIOUSLY wanted to get her! She quickly realized that she was very, very close to the gates, but if she made it there in time, how was she to open them?

'Might as well get a bit of hope,' she said to herself. Quickly, she turned around and began running for the gates.

In ten minutes time, she was there.

And they were sealed shut.

'This is SO not good,' she said, turning around. The citizens were coming towards her, led by the Win Spellas and Sympathonio himself.

'You will not escape our city!' he said. His once jolly voice was like a hideous monster in the whispering night, and it chilled right down to the marrow.

Panika turned around to run, but tripped over a loose tile. It flew somewhere on the street and was broken by stampeding feet that night, but it isn't really important. What was important was the thing UNDERNEATH the loose tile.

There was a tiny, square hole of dirt. And half-buried in that dirt was:

'My Cloud Usul Perfume!' exclaimed Panika in surprise. She quickly pulled it out and examined it. It was beautiful, but how did it get here?

Suddenly, she had another idea.

'Citizens of the City of the Wind,' yelled Panika over all of the truly horrible shouting and threats they were giving to her. 'Your greed and envy has hideously mutated you! Look what you and your beautiful city have become!'

They stopped for a moment and looked at one another and at their surroundings. Then, Sympathonio spoke.

'We deserve to be the master of the entire Gem of Fyora!' he screamed. 'Its magic will make our magic even stronger and we will rule all Neopia with it from its sky!'

'Well, that didn't work,' said Panika to herself as the mob began to charge at her once again. 'There's only one thing to do now.'

She sprayed the Cloud Usul Perfume on herself and felt herself becoming cloud-like. She began to float up, up, up over the gates.

'You will not be forgotten!' yelled a Win Spellas. 'You will be hunted down! You are never safe! Never...'

* * *

Panika was set down upon the gates and quickly cared for. However, she was almost immediately healed.

'What happened, Panika?' demanded a fully-revived Luki.

'Yeah, what gives? Why couldn't we open the gates?' shouted Granion angrily.

'And how did you get over them?' said a new voice.

It was the Faerie Aisha. What happened with Luki and Granion? Well, in a nutshell, the same Faerie Aisha that had brought Karolina's spirit to Neopia temporarily had learned of their distress and came to save them. Then, they all sat anxiously, waiting for Panika to return. The plan was that if she didn't reappear in five days, they would find a way in and confirm if she was alive or dead. Now that she was back, they were all very happy.

'Well, I'll answer your question first,' said Panika, nodding towards the Faerie Aisha. 'The Cloud Usul Perfume was something they detested, because it was of the Clouds. I read somewhere in the City that if anything that wasn't blessed by the Wind would be removed from the City immediately with an ancient magic, and I used that to my advantage.'

They looked at her in awe. 'Panika, you really are the smartest out of all of us,' said Granion, breaking the silence.

'Well, I guess that's true,' said Panika. 'As for what happened in there... I'm sure it'll be safe to tell you tomorrow,'

And she fell asleep, leaving her friends looking down upon her with stunned faces.


	4. The Forest of Mist

Their footsteps echoed throughout the wood. Nothing could be seen living; everything was dead. No wind rustled through the trees, which held their leaves only by the tiniest of stems... and a whispering... small voices and sounds everywhere... then, everything was covered by a mist, swallowing the trees, the plant... hiding everything in a veil... all is quiet... except...

The whispering trembled and then disappeared. Nothing was left, except for mist... nothing...

But then...

A figure, dressed in black, approaching... drawing rattling breath... the sky turning black...

'No!'

Lukinonia woke up with a start. Her back was against a tree, fully living and magnificent. All around her, a beautiful scent wavered throughout the grove. Slumped on trees close to her were two other Aishas: Granion and Panika.

Panting, she slowly got up and looked around. Everything in sight was extremely healthy. There was nothing unusual about the grove. Well, almost anyhow. The trees which they were sleeping against belonged to the Forest of Mist, high up in the sky. Luki's mother was Karolina, a wondrous storyteller, who had sent her daughter and her two dearest friends on a journey to restore peace and harmony back to the fabled Cities of the Sky. The only way to accomplish this was to get the three pieces of the Gem of Fyora, which, centuries ago, had been broken and then taken away by the cities. Each city had one piece of the stone, and it was now up the Aisha companions to get them back. They already had the first piece, which Panika had miraculously rescued from the City of the Wind. Now, they were heading through the Forest to get to the City of the Clouds, which was on the other side.

Panika was stirring, while Granion was still sleeping like a rock. They had journeyed from the Gates of the City of the Wind to the edge of the forest, with Panika repeating her fearful experience inside the City along the way. They knew that the Shapeshifter of Darkness was following them, because Panika had encountered it inside the City. Though they didn't know where he would pop up, they had to keep their guard.

Now the Purple Aisha was beginning to sit up. Lukinonia ran up to her friend.

'Good morning!' said Luki cheerfully.

'Hello,' said Panika. 'What's for breakfast?'

'Oh, some of Anson's goods,' answered the Split Aisha casually. Anson was the name of the Faerie Aisha which had rescued Luki and Granion from dying because of starvation when they were waiting for Panika to come out of the City. Before leaving, he had given them a large supply of food and drink which was to last for a long time.

Panika took a piece of bread, broke it into thirds, and tossed some to her friends. Luki caught hers in her mouth and began eating it; Granion's piece bounced off his head and fell right next to the base of a nearby tree.

'Dunce,' laughed Panika. 'Better go wake him up...'

However, as she went to go shake the life out of Granion, the Purple Aisha was distracted by a small rustling in the bushes. Soon, all the leaves in the entire grove began rustling. The two conscious Aishas looked up as the colour from the faces faded away.

'Run!' shouted Luki. Panika didn't need telling twice; she quickly kicked her twin awake ('What time is it?' he asked stupidly) and they started down the Forest trail.

They didn't stop running until they were forced to: at the place where the mist began to hide all of the tries in a veil.

'That was close,' panted Panika. She threw Granion his piece of bread and then snacked on her own piece.

'What if that- that rustling thing follows us?' asked Luki, worried. She gazed disapprovingly at her two friends, who were eating as if they were going to make camp there.

'We can gave it a big punch in the face!' said Granion viciously. 'And then a big kick in the-'

'Granion, quiet!' said Panika.

'Well somebody got up on the wrong side of the tree base this morning!'

'QUIET FOOLS!'

A deep rumbling voice penetrated from the mist. It seemed to make the white veil itself quiver.

'What do you want?' it asked.

'We- we'd like to go through here,' said Luki meekly. Her two friends were stunned to silence.

'Oh, is that so?' said the voice. Even though they could not see the speaker, they were almost sure that he was sneering.

'Y-yes it is,' said the Split Aisha. 'M-may you let us th-through?'

The hidden maker of speech's voice bubbled into laughter; great booming sounds that came his throat. The Aishas could feel goose bumps rising up their necks.

'Of course you may!' laughed the voice. 'Just step into the mist! The other side won't take you too long to get to! Good luck!'

The mist, which had been vibrating like sound-waves, reverted back to their original state: completely still.

'I think the dude left,' said Granion.

'Well, I guess there's nothing else to do but go in,' said Luki. Slowly, she beckoned for her friends to follow, and, holding their breaths, they stepped in.

* * *

Sometimes you might say the phrase, 'It's a dream come true!'. Other times, it might be, 'It's a NIGHTMARE come true!'. Well, one of those two thoughts ran through Luki's head as they trudged along. Can you guess which one?

Their footsteps echoed throughout the wood. Nothing could be seen living; everything was dead. No wind rustled through the trees, which held their leaves only by the tiniest of stems... and a whispering... small voices and sounds everywhere. Everything was covered by a mist, swallowing the trees, the plants... hiding everything, even themselves…

'This place is creepy,' said Panika, scared. 'And isn't there an end to this stupid forest? We've been trudging for hours.'

Actually, they haven't. Even someone like Panika can lose their perfect sense of time in a place where mist covers all and thoughts run through your mind like Slorgs. They had only been traveling for about half an hour, but they still have a LOT of things to do until they get to the end. You didn't think that they were going to go through this place without anything BAD happening to them, did you?

Suddenly, the whisperings faded away, and a much louder noise came. It didn't come from everywhere; instead, it came from up ahead. They had grown louder, but you can't hear exactly what they were saying. Nobody, not even Aishas, can strain their ears that hard.

'Life?' said Granion. 'Food? Shelter? Hope?'

'Maybe,' said Panika, looking up from her feet, which she had been watching for all this long time. 'Maybe… there is! There just might be! Come on!'

Luki barely noticed her two best friends run past her. She did notice, and without as much as a thought, she chased after them.

They ran as fast as their Aisha legs would carry them. They still weren't covering much distance, with the frantic dashing. Actually, they weren't covering any ground at all. The mist wouldn't let them get through it that easily. The white vapor held them back as the loud-but-still-not-hearable whispering taunted them.

'What in the name of Neopia is wrong with this?' demanded Panika to the ground. 'We're not covering any distance at all!'

'Will you all just SHUT UP?' screamed Granion at the whispers. 'I haven't drunk anything in days; my legs are as tired as if I've just ventured through the Lost Desert and then climbed Terror Mountain; food is as scarce as the number of Krawks; and I just wanna lie down and get a good rest!'

'Granion,' said Luki timidly. 'We've only been walking through this weird misty thing for half an hour.'

'Oh whatever,' said Granion. 'Just let us THROUGH!'

The whispers then started to fade away. The forest was silent once more, as if a wave of silence had washed over all the whispers. And then, a wind began to pick up: first, a small unnoticeable breeze, and it gradually began to get wilder and wilder.

'What's going on?' said Panika. 'This wind's strong enough to pull the flesh off our bones!'

'Ewww,' said Granion. 'I don't want to be Mr. Skeleton!'

'We don't have to be,' said Luki, all of a sudden. 'Look,'

The Split Aisha raised her paw toward a small breach in the gust. A small clearing was up ahead, and they could see figures moving about. The wind had blown away all the mist, and they could see the trees, dead and lifeless, beginning to be blown off its roots.

'If this wind gets any stronger…' began Panika, but she was interrupted.

'I don't wanna think about it!' said Luki. Quickly, she grabbed the paws of her two friends and they started to advance towards the clearing.

'Well, at least it can't get any worse,'

But of course, things did get worse. The clearing began to shine with black light. It began to get stronger and stronger, as if it was a portal, closing up the entrance from their lips being blown off to life.

'We're not going to make it!' cried Panika. 'This is the end! THE END!'

'What are you; a soothsayer?' said Granion grumpily.

'Oh, just be quiet and focus on us dying,' replied Panika. She began to let go.

'No!' shouted Luki. 'Don't give up yet! We can make it! Just believe in ourselves!'

'You know that never works, right?'

'Well, we have to do something!'

And did something they did, for at that moment, Luki grasped her friend's paws as tightly as possible, and jumped; jumped from the blistering gale and through the battling gates as the portal behind them closed with a BOOM!

* * *

'Well, it sure is a wonder that you didn't get us KILLED!' said Panika, depriving her fur of any dead twigs.

'Oh, just be glad that we made it at all,' said Granion. 'Now, we have to decide what we're going to do.'

Then, all of a sudden, a voice rang out, making them all jump three feet into the air.

'You kids look like you're lost in the forest!' said a voice cheerfully.

'Well, uhhh…' said Granion dozily. 'We are kids and we are lost in this hideous forest. Do you know our flesh nearly got blown off back there?'

'And he yelled shut up for the entire forest to hear?' said Panika, pointing to her brother disapprovingly.

'And let me guess,' said the man. 'You saw some shapes so you ran after them, only to find yourself in some sort of strange mist that won't let you pass?'

'Yes,'

'And then, a blistering gale picked up and you nearly became Mr. Skeleton?'

'Yes,'

'And then, some strange voice began asking you strange questions that have no use to you whatsoever?'

'Yes,'

'And then you don't even bother wondering who was speaking until now?'

'Ye- hey, wait!'

Granion turned around, followed closely by his friend and sister. They were finally facing the speaker: a small portly Mynci dressed like one of those announcers you might find at the circus.

' Well, you've come to the right place!' said the announcer. 'I'm Gondola, and welcome to Escape from Misty Forest!'

Before anyone could say anything, Panika spoke up. 'A gondola? Isn't that one of those things that takes people up mountains?'

'What's a mountain?' asked the Mynci. 'Oh, whatever. Are you going to play or not?'

'What's the point?'

'The point is that this game invented by some psycho is the only way you can get out of the Forest of Mist!'

'What do we have to do?'

'Ah,' Gondola smiled. 'You'll see! Come with me to the platform!'

'The plat-'

But before Panika could finish her two-word question, the Mynci had already left, his tailcoat flying behind him.

'Gruesome and misty! Things of all evil! Welcome to Escape from Misty Forest!'

* * *

The announcement could be heard all throughout the glade. Platform Glade was apparently the starting point of EMF, the native name for the contest. Luki, Granion, and Panika were 'Team 1', and they were up against 'Team 2', the ever-returning champions. Bass, Treble, and Tenor weren't much a joke. The two girls and boy were wise beyond their appearance, and had always returned to the Forest of Mist just so that they could play EMF.

'I will now be explaining the rules!', shouted Gondola from the Platform. 'Each team will be given a good look at the plaque at both entrances. The plaque will contain instructions on what you are to do. The first team that successfully completes the challenge is shown the gateway out. Ready? On your marks, get set, GO!'

Panika and Granion, led by Luki, ran as fast as their Aisha legs would carry them to their plaque. It stood on a little support pillar that had fallen off. Panika had glanced at the other team all the way, and was astonished at what he saw. With a swish of Tenor's cloak, her teammates had gotten to their plaque in the blink of an eye. When our heroes made it there, they had already picked up the plaque and were already inside their entrance.

'What does it say?' said Panika quickly, as soon as they had gotten there.

Luki read it aloud:

_'Doors and locks there are three_

_Each needing a different key_

_A guardian for each_

_Is all it will need_

_But remember to take great heed!_

_The Temple of Gold_

_Will not make you so bold_

_The colour of blood_

_Will be in the Tower of the Wood_

_Your last feat,_

_Will be below your feet._

_So hurry, hurry,_

_As fast as you can,_

_To reach the exit,_

_And…'_

She stopped abruptly.

'What's the matter Luki?' asked Panika.

'That's it,' said the Split Aisha. 'There isn't anything else on here. I think it looks like it might have been scraped off…'

'What?' demanded Granion. 'Let me see!'

He snatched it from his friend's paw and held it up directly in front of his eyes.

'She's right!' the Orange Aisha said. 'There isn't anything here!'

'Let me see!' said Panika, snatching it from his brother's paw and holding it up directly on front of his eyes.

'He's right!' the Purple Aisha said. 'Well, those are two words I never thought I'd say in a row...'

'But how can that be?' Luki wondered aloud. 'Was there some sort of-'

'Sabotage?' asked Gondola, all of a sudden. 'Well, there might as well have been.'

'What do you mean?' asked all three of the Aishas in unison.

He chuckled. 'That team two will do almost anything to make sure that they're the winners.'

'Wait a moment...' said Panika. 'If they keep on returning, then wouldn't the contest always be the same?'

'Oh, of course not,' the Mynci replied instantly. 'What kind of fun would that be, my dear Aisha? Now, I would recommend you people to go and get a move-on, because Team 2 could already have gotten the first key already, and you wouldn't want that happening, wouldn't you?

* * *

As soon as they left Platform Grove, they discovered the Forest beyond was as dark as murky as before. Some of the trees were dead, and the living ones had completely black leaves that looked as if they were little chunks of the night that had fell the sky and turned into leaves. The three Aishas were moving as fast as they could, trying to find their first destination.

'The tablet says that the first key is supposed to be in a place called the Temple of Gold,' wondered Lukinonia aloud. 'How are we supposed to find it?'

'It says that it won't make us so bold...' said Panika thoughtfully. 'Could that mean that it's in the scariest part of the Forest of Mist?'

This gave all the Aishas a new idea to think about. However, as they trekked through the area, they discovered that everything looked the same. The path underneath them just kept on going straight; straight until they probably encountered something so horrible that they would regret ever accepting Karolina's Quest to save the skies. They just kept on going, and going, and going...

Finally, all three of the Aishas just slumped down against the base of a large oak.

'I give up!' Granion cried. 'We've been searching for HOURS, and still we haven't found a single clue to where the Temple of Gold could be!'

Below them, they could see the path through the woods slowly starting to disappear. Night was falling down on Neopia.

'And now, we've even lost our pathway! What are we going to do!'

And at that very moment, Granion Cloud had lost all of his great boldness and pride. And it was at this that Panika and Luki, looking past him, noticed that a large stream of golden light had erupted from the ground and slowly formed into what looked like a magnificently built structure.

'...of course,' said Luki slowly. 'When you're not so bold... the foundation feeds off those who are hopeless and helpless!'

Panika didn't seem to understand, but Luki hadn't noticed. Forgetting about Granion, the two Aishas entered the wide entrance of the Temple.

Inside, they both had to blind their eyes, for everywhere they looked there was gold. 'Every single inch of this place is made out of gold!' Panika exclaimed wondrously. The Temple was only just one large room. Now that their eyes had grown accumulated to the light, they noticed that the floor was decorated with tiles that were adorned with carved pictures. The walls held long rows of carved runes, which Panika instantly rushed at and began to study. On the ceiling there appeared to be a map of some sort, but it was too far away to study carefully.

At the opposite end of the Temple, there was a large monument. This caught Luki's attention, and she quickly rushed towards it. It appeared to be a statue of a rich Lupe king. He had a long golden bear which was carved so magnificently that it almost appeared to be real. Its face almost looked surreal; the sculptor had carved every little thing, down to the last wrinkle. Its eyes were rubies as big as her paw. The king was clothed with a beautiful robe and cape that Luki could almost reach out and feel the material. In its paw, it held a magnificent staff, adorned with opals and lazuli. At the very top sat a humongous, round sapphire as big as the Aisha's head.

At the King's feet sat three figures, which looked familiar. One had a long, swishing cloak that covered its entire body except for its head. Another was covered with what looked like golden mail, grasping what appeared to be a large tablet. The third one looked the boldest, holding a long sword adorned with amethysts. Luki gasped, stepping back.

Panika appeared in an instant. 'What?'

Luki slowly pointed to the three figures. 'The one with the cloak is Tenor... the one with the mail is Treble... the one with the sword is Bass!'

Panika looked at her friend, and then the monument. 'What could statues of those three be doing in here?'

She suddenly looked up at the King, her eyes wide. 'That's King Alto!'

'King Alto?' Luki repeated. 'Wasn't he the one that broke the Gem of Fyora in the first place?'

Panika nodded. 'How could those three other Neopets possibly be related to King Alto?'

Luki was about to say what she had in mind, but suddenly she noticed a small, golden key at the feet of the entire statue. 'Hello, what's this?' she said instead, bending to pick it up.

As soon as it was scooped off the ground, the entire Temple began to rumble. The statue of the Alto, Tenor, Bass, and Treble disappeared in a blinding flash of light. Next minute, all the ruins were fading back into the walls as they slowly crumbled into the ground.

'Run!' Panika screamed. Luki didn't need telling twice; as fast as they could, both Aishas started to run as fast as they could towards the doorway.

As soon as they burst through it, they grabbed Granion, jerking him out of his fear. Quickly, they rushed from the falling temple as fast as their legs could carry them, deeper into the heart of the wood.

* * *

'Where to next?' shouted Panika as loud as she could.

'The plaque says that the next key must be in the Tower of the Wood!' Luki screamed in reply. 'But where could that be?'

The pathway was alight once more when they finally stopped at the foot of what appeared to be a cone on the ground.

'This looks like the top of a tower,' Panika said, thoughtfully. A large window was still visible, and it was big enough to admit one Neopet.

'I think that this must be the tower of the wood!' said Luki, investigating it very carefully. She moved closer, and peered into the window. 'It is! I can see the bottom from here!'

She turned around to face both her friends. 'Come on!'

Granion stepped up very quickly, but Panika slowly backed away.

'What is it, Panika?' Luki asked her friend.

'I'm- I'm afraid of heights!'

'Oh, come on, sis,' Granion looked ashamed. 'The tower is inside the ground!'

'I know, but... it's still scary...'

Lukinonia and Granion sighed. 'Fine then... you can stay out here until you get back,'

Panika looked relieved. 'Okay!' She sat down and began digging in her pockets.

'Come on, Granion,' Luki said, ushering him towards her. She then climbed, headfirst into the opening. 'Give me a push.'

Granion pushed his friend as hard as he could, and Luki started to fall into the depths of the tower. She could feel the window all around her, and then-

WHAM! The Split Aisha crashed headfirst into a stone cold floor. Quickly springing up, she brushed herself off before her companion, Granion, broke his fall by landing on her.

'Ow!' she said, groaning. Granion quickly got up and helped his friend up.

'What now?' he asked, looking around. The tower was extremely musty. The only source of light was from the tiny opening at the top. Inside the tower, it just looked like a circle, with nothing interesting at all except for a blood-red key on the floor.

'The key!' Granion exclaimed. He quickly bent down and scooped it up, giving it to Luki. 'You did find the first one, right?'

Luki nodded wordlessly. Slowly, she took out the Golden Key and added the Red Key to her collection. 'Now we just have to find that last key, and it's supposed to be under our feet...'

'Under our feet?' Granion asked thoughtfully. 'Aren't we already under our feet? I mean, if we're under the surface, then we're under our feet. The last key has to be around here somewhere!'

Quickly, they searched the bottom of the tower. In only five seconds, Luki suddenly shouted, 'Found something!'

Granion quickly rushed to her side. 'What?'

The Split Aisha pointed to a square tunnel at the bottom of the wall. It was basically as big as the opening to the tower, and led to blackness.

'Quick! We need to get Panika down here!' Lukinonia said. 'How are we going to do that?'

'Oh, don't worry about that,' said Granion, smirking. 'That will be easy enough.'

He dashed over to the very center of the tower and then yelled, 'Oh Luki! What's this? Books? Oh well, that's no help to us... let's just destroy them!'

As fast as you could blink, Panika was in the tower with them, having her fall broken by Granion. 'There are no books down here!' she scolded at her brother.

'Well, now that we're all down here, we can continue on with the journey!' Luki said impatiently, pointing to the tunnel.

Nodding, all three Aishas bent down and crawled into the passageway that would lead them to the third key.

* * *

The tunnel was very small and narrow, and as it slowly sloped downwards, it was a miracle that they could even crawl through it at all. Finally, at the very end, they saw a fiery red light at the end of the tunnel.

'Well, this is it,' said Panika, as they crawled through the exit. 'The last key should be around here-'

Before she could finish her sentence, her words were cut short by a spurt of flames that had emerged from the ground and wall, meeting together and creating a fireball. The fireball hovered in the air for a split second before swiftly shooting through the air and towards the Aishas.

'Dodge it!' Granion shouted, and Luki, Granion, and Panika all leapt aside. The fireball crashed into the tunnel, caving the tunnel in!

'We need to get out of here, now!' Panika said. She quickly looked around for an exit, and found one: a long, metal ladder which lead up to what looked like a tangled sea of vines.

'Over there! Luki, stop bending over on the ground and come on!'

'Huh? Oh right...' Lukinonia sprung up, slipping something away in her pocket.

'We need to find a way to get to the other side...' said Granion. In the room, there was a large pool of lava that made it impossible just to walk across. The sides were extremely narrow; if a fireball were to shoot at it, then it would be fatal. A small hole on the ceiling released a flamethrower of fire, which would merge with the lava and create a hazardous ball of fire.

'We need to find a way to block that opening somehow, so no fire can come out!' Panika exclaimed. 'But what could we do?'

Suddenly, the lava began to bubble, and released an array of strange bubbles. 'Watch out! Lava bubbles are extremely dangerous!' Panika said.

However, Luki had a strange compulsion that they could somehow help them. Slowly, she reached out and put her paw on the bubble. It didn't pop, or scorch her paw; instead, it felt like she was putting her paw over a mild fire.

'Luki? Have you lost your mind!' Granion shouted at his friend.

'No...' she said slowly. 'These bubbles are okay! They don't hurt me!'

Granion, curious, reached out and touched one. His paw quickly retreated back towards his owner. 'Kau dung! These things are SCORCHING!'

'But they don't hurt me...' said Luki. She tried touching another bubble, and it still felt the same. They're pretty solid...

'Hey, guys,' Luki suddenly said, thoughtful. 'Let's clog up the hole using these bubbles!'

Her two friends looked at her as if she had lost her mind. 'You can't be serious,' Panika said. 'These are BUBBLES. They would pop if a strong stream of fire shot through them!'

'These aren't ordinary bubbles... watch!' Panika took out a Blue Key, and was about to do something when Panika exclaimed, 'You found the third key!'

'Yeah... that was what I was bending over for; now watch!' Panika took out the other two keys, and then swung them through the air towards the bubble. The keys, and her paw, just went right through it. The bubble still floated there as if nothing had happened.

Panika was amazed. 'That- that can't be p-possible...' she stuttered.

'Has anything ever been possible in this journey?' Granion asked her.

As Panika and Granion broke into an argument, Luki had begun throwing bubbles of lava as fast as she could towards the hole. The bubbles all went in one by one, and they slowly began to fill up the hole like a package of Candy Peas. Soon, there was a rumbling, and what sounded like fire. However, the bubbles were preventing it from getting out, and instead the tongue of lava fire just shot right through the bubble to meet the fire at the end of the long row of fires. This ended up taking so long that the other fire had already burnt out. In other words, no more fireballs could be made!

'Guys, it's safe now,' Luki said to the arguing siblings. 'Just edge along the sides very slowly and we'll be safe.'

When they all finally got to the other side, they could almost feel their fur begin to shrivel up and die from the extreme heat. As fast as Poogles, the three Aishas rushed to the ladder and began scrambling up towards the light. Bursting through, they all slumped on the ground one by one into the cool, fresh air, safe- or were they?

'Well then, look who finally made it here,' said a female voice. The three companions looked up, and saw Treble, Bass, and Tenor all smirking at them. 'I knew you were slow, but not that slow,' said Treble.

Flabbergasted, the Aishas could only watch as the Lupe team each held up a key that was Yellow, Blue, or Red in colour. As fast as they could, Treble, Bass, and Tenor stuck them into the keyholes behind them- and they screamed as they did. Large beams of light had erupted from the openings towards each one of them. Tenor had turned completely yellow for a second, Bass blue, and Treble was red. The Aishas shielded their eyes as the Lupes slowly started to turn into-

'Hams?' Granion said in astonishment, looking up. His two friends did too, and saw that they were in fact hams. The large gateway that was the exit of the forest slowly opened up.

'But how could it be?' wondered Panika aloud.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Gondola appeared. 'Aha! So I see you have won!'

'This is impossible!' Luki spluttered at the Mynci. 'They stuck the keys into the keyholes! They were the ones that won, but they turned into hams!'

'Ah, but you see, that is what it was foretold on the plaque. However, since sabotage was done to yours, sabotage was also done to theirs.'

'But who, in all of Neopia, would bother sabotaging theirs?' Panika asked.

'I would have no idea,' said Gondola, but Luki could have sworn she saw the Mynci's eyes twinkle for less than a second. 'It says that whoever that would first insert the keys into the keyhole would turn into hams, and that the other team would be successful in their endeavor to win. Now... you can leave the Forest of Mist!'

Laughing, they quickly dashed from the pathway and through the gateway into the magnificent sight of the skies. Towards the distant, there appeared to be a city with walls that were painted orange.

'The City of the Clouds,' breathed Panika.

As fast as they could, the three friends rushed as fast as they could towards their next destination. There are many happy things that raced through their minds as they ran towards the City: their luck that they had escaped the forest, they had not ran into the Shapeshifter of Darkness, Lukinonia had found out something about Tenor, Bass, and Treble that she would tell Panika later, and that their new enemies were ham were only a few things that they were happy about at the moment as their adventure through the skies continued.


End file.
